2022 Florida Football Postgame Notes
Florida 41, Texas A&M 24
November 5, 2022
Kyle Field – College Station, Tex.
Richardson + Run Game Power Comeback Win in College Station
• Florida picked up its fourth come-from-behind win of the season (trailed against No. 7 Utah, USF,
Eastern Washington and at Texas A&M).
• However, Florida’s win over Texas A&M marks the Gators’ first win of the season in which they were
trailing at the half.
• Florida won its first SEC road game since Dec. 5, 2020 at Tennessee (W, 31-19).
• With today’s victory, Florida improves to 3-3 (.500) vs. Texas A&M and 2-1 (.666) in College Station.
• Florida’s 20 explosive plays marked the team’s most in a game this season.
• The Gators rushed for a season-high 291 yards on the ground – Florida’s sixth 200-yard rushing game
of the season including the fourth in the last five contests.
• QB Anthony Richardson passed for 200-plus yards for the fourth time in his career and finished with
two passing TDs and two rushing TDs each for the second time this season (Week 4 at No. 11
Tennessee).
o In two road games this season, Richardson has a 148.8 passing efficiency with 327.0
passing yards/game, four TDs and one INT while averaging 70.0 rushing yards/game with
four rushing TDs.
Florida is averaging 37.0 points, 543.0 yards, 327.0 passing yards and 216.0 rushing
yards on the road.
Gators Offense
● The Gators’ 5.9 yards per carry ranks third in the FBS and is on track to tie the school record set in
2008.
o Florida averaged 5.8 YPC against Texas A&M, rushing a season-high 50 times for 291 yards.
● Florida did not turn the ball over for the third-consecutive game.
● The Gators eclipsed 400 yards for the fourth time this season including the third time in the last six
games.
o Florida amassed 400-plus total yards for the 21st time in its last 32 games including 34 of the
last 51 contests.
● The Gators have rushed for 100-plus yards in 11-straight games including all nine games so far this
season.
o The Gators have now rushed for 100-plus yards in 20 of their last 22 games.
o Florida has rushed for 100-plus yards in 49 of its last 60 games.
● Florida rushed for 200-plus yards for the sixth time in nine games this season and for the fourth time
in the last five games.
o Florida posted its 12th game of 200-plus rushing yards in the last 22 contests.
o This marks Florida’s 24th 200-plus yard rushing game in its last 60 games.
● The Gators have out-gained their opponents in 16 of the last 22 games dating back to last season
(South Carolina, UCF, USF, Missouri, LSU, Georgia).
● Florida scored 30-plus points for the fifth time this season including the fifth time in the last seven
games.
o The Gators scored 30-plus points for the 37th time in their last 60 games, including scoring
30-plus in 24 of the team’s last 36 games.
o The Gators scored 30-plus points seven times in 15 games last season.
● Florida scored 40-plus points for the second time this season – with both coming in the team’s last
five games (Week 5 vs. Eastern Washington).
o Florida scored 40 points for the 21st time in the last 60 games and for the sixth time in 22
games since last season.
o The Gators scored 40-plus points four times last season.
● With just one sack allowed at Texas A&M, Florida posted its eighth game with one sack or fewer
surrendered in nine contests this season.
o Florida has allowed only nine sacks in 2022, which is tied for 18th-fewest in the FBS (t-third in
the SEC).
● Florida had seven explosive rushes in the first half at Texas A&M after recording zero in the first half
vs. No. 1 Georgia last week.
● RB Montrell Johnson Jr. rushed for 100-plus yards for the fourth time in his career and for the second
time as a Gator.
o Johnson Jr. finished with a career-high 22 carries.
● Johnson Jr. and Etienne have combined for one rushing TD in all nine games this season.
o Johnson Jr. recorded his eighth rushing TD of the season and the 20th of his career at Texas
A&M in Week 10.
o The duo has combined for 34 of Florida’s 55 explosive rushes (10-plus yards).
● WR Ricky Pearsall has hauled a pass in 24-consecutive games.
● QB Anthony Richardson’s 60-yard TD rush in the first quarter marked the fourth-longest by an SEC
quarterback this season.
o It was his third TD rush of 45-plus yards this season.
o It was also the fifth-longest TD rush by a Florida quarterback since 1996. Richardson also
occupies the No. 1-3 spots on that list, with Jeff Driskel sitting in fourth (70 yards, Oct. 13,
2012 vs. Vanderbilt)
o Across the last 10 seasons (2013-2022), Richardson owns each of the five-longest TD rushes
by a Florida quarterback:
▪ Oct. 15, 2022 vs. LSU: 81-yard TD rush
▪ Sept. 11, 2021 at USF: 80-yard TD rush
▪ Sept. 4, 2021 vs. FAU: 73-yard TD rush
▪ Nov. 5, 2022 at Texas A&M: 60-yard TD rush
▪ Sept. 3, 2022 vs. Utah: 45-yard TD rush
● Richardson recorded his seventh and eighth rushing touchdowns of the season in the first quarter
at Texas A&M.
o Richardson’s eight rushing TDs are tied for sixth all-time in a single season by a Florida
quarterback (Tim Tebow – 2006, Jimmy Fisher – 1979)
o Richardson’s eight rushing TDs rank second among SEC QBs, t-sixth in the P5 and t-sixth in
the FBS.
● Of Richardson’s 27-career touchdowns (16 passing, 11 rushing), he has:
o Six TDs of 70-plus yards, 11 TDs of 40-plus yards and 13 TDs of 25-plus yards.
o Three TD rushes of 70-plus yards, four TD rushes of 60-plus yards and five TD rushes of 45-plus
yards
o Four 75-yard TD passes, six 40-yard TD passes, seven 30-yard TD passes and eight 25-yard TD
passes
● Richardson posted his third game this season with three-or-more total TDs.
o Richardson has eight passing TDs and eight rushing TDs in 2022 – good for 16 total.
o He is one of six FBS players with at least eight passing and rushing TDs apiece.
● Richardson posted his second game this season with four-or-more total TDs (Sept. 24 at No. 11
Tennessee).
● WR Ja’Quavion Fraziars caught his first passes of the season, finishing with a team-high four
receptions for 50 yards and one TD.
o Fraziars set career highs in receptions (four), receiving yards (50) and receiving long (19).
● With Fraziars finding the stat sheet, 17 different players have now caught at least one pass for
Florida this season.
● RB Trevor Etienne carried the ball a career-high 17 times and finished with 80 rushing yards on three
double-digit carries.
● WR Caleb Douglas’ second-career reception came in the form of a 12-yard TD catch to extend
Florida’s lead to 34-24 in the third quarter.
o Both of Douglas’ first-two career receptions went for touchdowns of 10-plus yards (61-yard
TD reception vs. Eastern Washington).
o Douglas finished with a career-high three receptions.
Gators Defense
● Florida shut out Texas A&M in the second half, holding the Aggies to 106 total yards including 11
rushing yards from halftime onward.
o This was Florida’s first second-half shutout since Oct. 9, 2021 vs. Vanderbilt (W, 42-0).
● Florida held Texas A&M to 4-for-13 on third down (30.8%) and 0-for-1 on fourth down.
o Florida’s performance on third down (30.8%) tied for the defense’s top third-down
performance of the season (30.8% vs. No. 20 Kentucky).
● The Gators recorded two sacks in today’s game.
o Since the start of last season, Florida has out-sacked its opponents by a plus-29 margin.
o Florida’s 172 sacks since 2018 season ranks second in the SEC and t-sixth nationally –
Clemson (212), Pittsburgh (206), Alabama (191), Miami (178), Ohio State (174) and
Oklahoma State (172).
o Florida ranked tied-for-14th in the FBS and second in the SEC with 34 sacks last season.
● Florida recorded its 16th turnover of the season with a pair of fourth-quarter forced fumbles.
o The Gators have had at least one turnover in eight of nine games this season.
o Florida has recorded multiple takeaways in six games this year.
● With two takeaways at Texas A&M, Florida’s defense has now produced 94 turnovers since 2018,
which ranks third in the SEC and tied-for-20th in the FBS.
o The Gators have produced 16 turnovers this season with at least one each game.
o The Gators’ 16 forced turnover this season rank t-first in the SEC and t-14th in the FBS.
● Making his first start of the season, JACK Antwaun Powell-Ryland Jr. set career highs with six tackles
(three solo) and 2.0 TFL while adding one sack and one forced fumble (his second of the season).
● DE Princely Umanmielen posted 1.0 sack, 2.0 TFL and two QB hurries and one forced fumble.
o Umanmielen now has 4.0 sacks and 7.0 TFL this season.
● LB Ventrell Miller finished with 1.0 TFL and four tackles (three solo).
● DB Jason Marshall Jr. logged two pass breakups – his fourth and fifth of the season.
● DB Jaydon Hill picked up his first-two pass breakup of the season.
● Florida registered its first takeaway of the game in the fourth quarter, as Umanmielen forced his
second fumble of the season, followed by Lloyd Summerall III’s first-career fumble recovery.
● Powell-Ryland Jr. gave Florida its second takeaway with a fourth-quarter strip sack on the next
drive, which LB Amari Burney recovered for his first fumble recovery of the season and second of
his career.
o Burney has now been involved on five takeaways this season: two interceptions, two
forced fumbles and one fumble recovery.
● S Donovan McMillon recorded 1.0 TFL – the first of his career – finishing with two solo tackles.
Florida Special Teams
● P Jeremy Crawshaw punted three times for an average of 44.7 yards, including a long kick of 47
yards and one kick inside the opposing 20-yard line.
● K Adam Mihalek went 2-for-3 on field goal attempts.
o Mihalek connected on a 50-yard field goal in the first quarter, marking his third 50-plus-yard
kick of the campaign and his second in as many weeks.
o He later made a 24-yarder in the second quarter, but missed on a 28-yard attempt in the
fourth.
Explosive Plays (20)
● Ja’Quavion Fraziars (from Anthony Richardson): 17-yard reception, first quarter
● Ricky Pearsall (from Anthony Richardson): 23-yard reception, first quarter
● Montrell Johnson Jr.: 12-yard rush, first quarter
● Anthony Richardson: 11-yard rush, first quarter
● Trevor Etienne: 12-yard rush, first quarter
● Trevor Etienne: 11-yard rush, first quarter
● Anthony Richardson: 10-yard TD rush, first quarter
● Ricky Pearsall: 15-yard rush, first quarter
● Anthony Richardson: 60-yard TD rush, first quarter
● Xzavier Henderson (from Anthony Richardson): 17-yard reception, second quarter
● Montrell Johnson Jr. (from Anthony Richardson): 18-yard reception, second quarter
● Trevor Etienne: 10-yard rush, second quarter
● Ricky Pearsall (from Anthony Richardson): 21-yard reception, third quarter
● Ja’Quavion Fraziars (from Anthony Richardson): 19-yard TD reception, third quarter
● Montrell Johnson Jr.: 22-yard rush, third quarter
● Anthony Richardson: 12-yard rush, third quarter
● Ricky Pearsall: 20-yard rush, third quarter
● Ricky Pearsall (from Anthony Richardson): 21-yard reception, third quarter
● Montrell Johnson Jr.: 24-yard rush, third quarter
● Montrell Johnson Jr.: 16-yard rush, fourth quarter
Series Updates
● Today’s game represented the sixth all-time meeting between Florida and Texas A&M including the
third matchup in College Station.
● With today’s victory, Florida improves to 3-3 (.500) vs. Texas A&M and 2-1 (.666) in College Station.
• This year’s matchup marked the first time in the last four meetings between Florida and Texas A&M
that the final score was not decided by three or fewer points.
o 2012 – TAMU 17, UF 20 l 2017 – TAMU 19, UF 17 l 2020 – TAMU 41, UF 38
• HC Billy Napier defeated TAMU HC Jimbo Fisher in their first meeting as head coaches.
• Florida’s 492 yards was its most against Texas A&M across the last four meetings.
Other
● Florida has scored in 432-consecutive games — which is an NCAA record and 56 games longer
than any other college football team in history.
o The Gators broke Michigan’s record of 365-consecutive games (1984-2014) against LSU on
Oct. 7, 2017.
● Florida Game Captains: #9 Gervon Dexter, #51 Ventrell Miller, #54 O’Cyrus Torrence, #15 Anthony
Richardson
● Texas A&M won the toss and deferred; Texas A&M defended the south end zone.
● Attendance: 97,797
2022 Florida Football Postgame Quotes
Billy Napier, Florida Head Coach
Florida 41, Texas A&M 24
November 5, 2022
Opening statement…
“I think that this game of football – we spent countless hours on scheme, we spent countless hours
training, lifting weights, running, working on fundamentals, working on situational football – but there’s
a human element to this game. And that’s a battle that we’ve been living with this group of players.
And I really can’t compliment the leadership on our staff and the leadership amongst our players
enough, relative to the character, the accountability, the brotherhood. Playing the game with a
special team dynamic, a certain morale. Just out of respect for the game and the way it should be
played. And I think we saw some of that. I think we could’ve easily got frustrated with our defensive
performance in the first half, but man, in that locker room, you would never know. It’s really a group
that stuck together. They knew exactly what the issues were. The ownership in each position group.
Being vocal about the things that they could do better. And I think the staff did a terrific job making
adjustments. Just really proud of the overall response here. I think that it’s a certain part of this game
that we’ve been working hard on, I think showed up today. And the execution was there. Really
proud of the defense to shut that group out in the second half. To play complimentary football – I’m
pretty sure we didn’t turn the ball over; three weeks in a row that we didn’t turn the ball over. We’ve
gotten takeaways. We’re starting to play football the way it’s intended to be played. Just the energy
and the approach. So, extremely proud of the players and of the staff.”
On the improvements to the third-down defense…
“Again, I go back to what I mentioned earlier. I don’t think it’s about the play call. I don’t think it’s
about the fundamentals. I think it’s about what’s going on between the ears. I think it’s about the
relationships in the room. It’s about being committed to the people around you and playing the
game with those intentions. And I think that early-kick, we stumbled out of the blocks. Obviously, we
all watched it. There’s nothing to be proud of about it. But ultimately, when adversity is presented to
you, it gives you an opportunity to prove what you’re made of. It gives you a chance to refine and
develop your character, and I think that’s what we saw. It’s good to see players lead. And I think
that’s a part of our team that we’re developing. We took a step in the right direction in that regard
today.”
On Anthony Richardson’s dual-threat performance…
“I told Anthony there late in the game – I think Anthony’s going to play this game for a long time – I
think he’ll look back and this will be one of those days that he will say was kind of a pivotal day. I think
just playing with confidence, thought he started fast. Really thorough in his prep during the week.
He’s a 20-year-old, first-year starter in a new system. And I think, again, I really believe Anthony’s
problems aren’t physical. It’s about development. It’s about getting comfortable in a role. Being a
leader, being vocal. Improving as a communicator. Playing as a competitor and playing for your
teammates. Taking yours and beating theirs. I just really think today was a big step in the right
direction for him.”
On the leadership on defense today…
“Ventrell [Miller] obviously is the alpha. I see Gervon Dexter, I see Antwaun Powell, I see Rashad
Torrence. There’s a lot of young players that I see taking ownership… I think that we’re making
progress, is what I would say.”
On Antwaun Powell-Ryland Jr.’s performance…
“Antwaun has been in the rotation. He’s played. He’s deserving. Antwaun’s a good football player.
He’s been productive when given opportunities in the past. Sometimes, you don’t know until that
opportunity’s presented to you. One thing I know about AP is that it means something to him to do his
job for the other players. Great to see him step up and do big things that impacted the game
today.”
On the call on Richardson’s 60-yard touchdown run…
“It’s actually a zone read, where the right end is bypassing the blocker. They were over-adjusting to
the quick motions in the back-end. Zone read away from that, you gotta pull and off to the races.”
On the ground game, specifically Montrell Johnson Jr. and Trevor Etienne…
“I think it’s a strength of our team. I think you’re starting to see a little bit of that identity that we want
to have. Our team’s played that way in the past. We want to be a physical team. We want to win
the line of scrimmage, play well on the edges. A cumulative effect to how we play. I think Anthony’s
legs, the design today, I think gave us a little bit of an extra advantage. And certainly, we threw it
around enough to keep them off-balance. You know, Anthony made some critical plays.
[Ja’Quavion] Fraziars steps up to the plate today. Huge plays of the game. Ricky [Pearsall] continues
to be a very productive player. I thought that a lot of guys stepped up today.”
2022 Florida Football Postgame Quotes
Florida Student-Athletes
15 Anthony Richardson, Sophomore, Quarterback
On the win…
“Definitely felt good for us. Just winning in general, that’s always a blessing for us. SEC win for us,
that’s also a blessing. Getting us back in a grove. A road win against a tough opponent, it just allows
us to come out here and play football and see where we are at. We are feeling good, and we are
excited.”
On talks with Coach Napier…
“We definitely talk in between drives, especially at the end of the game there. It’s a conversation
and he told me this is going to help me in the future. All week, I’ve just been working on my
leadership, just trying to hold guys together, just keep the team pushing. Allowing us to come out
there and play fast and strong. [Napier] told me that this is going to be a turning point of my career
and my life. I kind of see that because I think I am getting better with my leadership. That’s how I’m
keeping cool.”
On being a leader…
“It’s a challenge trying to be a leader. Sometimes you got to fight through those challenges and try
to grow. As a leader, I haven’t always been the type of guy to communicate a lot. I just try to lead by
example and just show guys how to do things. But I see that that’s not the only way you can be a
leader. You can lead by example and then communicate with guys and connect with them. It
makes a lot easier for you to lead people.”
On making plays on the ground and in the air…
“It feels good. I’ve always been able to run the ball and pass the ball. Just coming out today and
being successful with those things feels pretty good for us.”
On not turning the ball over…
“It feels great. What I’ve been doing is just doing my job. Just trusting everybody else and trusting
them to do their job. It feels great for me because coach [Napier], he hates turnovers. I’m pretty sure
we all do. He harps on it all the time. Just to see him smiling about it, it makes us feel good.”
51 Ventrell Miller, Redshirt Senior, Linebacker
On the turnaround in the second half…
“I think it had to do with the halftime speech from some of the coaches and players. We started off
flat-footed and just taking ownership of that. It got the boys motivated in the second half, and
everyone came out and did their job, and we showed them how the Florida Gators defense could
play.”
On the halftime speech …
“It was a little bit of tough love, like let’s go, it’s still a game and we aren’t playing like how we are
supposed to play. We told them to shut it out, and the boys stood on that, so I’m definitely proud of
those boys.”
On the halftime adjustments…
“Not really too many adjustments went in. It was more of an effort thing. Guys making plays when it’s
time to make a play, and having that mindset of let’s go, like it’s the game lets go.”
On the group tackling…
“In the second half, we told everyone to fly around to the ball. Missed tackles don’t show up when
everyone is flying to the ball, so that was definitely something that was going on in the second half.”
On guys stepping up …
“We definitely had guys step up. Antwaun [Powell-Ryland Jr.], Lloyd [Summerall III], both of them got
sacks and caused a fumble. They knew what was on the line, and I’m proud of how they stepped
up.”
QUESTIONS FOR COACH JIMBO FISHER
COACH FISHER: Disappointing there. First half was a back and forth. We were scoring moving the
ball consistently. I think we were up 24-20 at half. Had one stop we had. We had a big gain and got a
penalty. Got behind the chains and got a third down we could almost hit.
Our guys were really moving the ball. They were getting the running game going, had good balance.
They got us in some single high stuff and put some pressure on the ends. And the safeties pulling on
the quarterback. They did a good job getting him out. He got some nice runs in the game.
We were able to keep good balance in the first half, in our play-action game. We were having efficient
plays, no negative plays, not getting behind the sticks. Did a good job. Thought Haynes [King] managed
the game really well. Made good throws, made good decisions. Had a third-down touchdown down
there and moved the ball extremely well.
Big drive before the half, being able to come back in two minutes and get down and get points before
the half, was excellent. Played really well in that situation.
Coming out the second half, disappointing. We had a boot play that they covered and doubled. Got the
guy booted. Maybe we could have scrambled for a couple yards. Then we got a negative run, a third
and 9. They got some pressure.
We had a chance down the middle. Underthrew it just a hair. They may have dove and made a great
one. But if we had a chance on it, just didn’t execute. But when they punted and got a little punt return,
they come down and scored. Got momentum and got out of there.
Then on offense, we come back and had two runs. We’re trying to keep the run and balance because
we had been running really good in the first half and just didn’t get it. They got control of the line of
scrimmage. Their inside guys are very big and strong. We knew that going in.
We did a good job in the first half keeping them off balance with it, but they got us in a third-and-long
situation. We didn’t pick up a blitz on third down. They brought it and we had a guy for it, but just didn’t
get it picked up. Caused us to get off.
Then they went back down and we got stopped. Then we had a really nice drive. Had a couple of
passes and got to midfield. I thought had a great one-on-one down the sideline. Thought they tugged
the heck out of them but, that’s not for me to call. That’s the same one we got called last week by
[Tyreek] Chappell. That’s part of it. They don’t call it, they don’t call it.
They come down in the box and we had him. Threw a good back shoulder. He was finally coming back
and got tugged. Just didn’t get the call.
Second down, we didn’t get the run. Couldn’t get it going there on second down.
Third down, we had the ball right on our fingertips. That was a big drive, I thought. We could have got
some points right there just off of Max’s [Johnson] finger. We threw it right there off his fingertips, which
is a very tough catch for him. Got to execute and, again, find the inches.
Then they went down. We punted it, pinned them back, and they went down and got a drive. Then we
come back and had a really nice drive and came back and had points right there. Just got beat on
protection on the right side. It wasn’t nothing they did. That would have put it back to a one-score game
if we had a field goal. We had a nice drive, moved it back, had tempo in the game, got some things
going in the game, got back in the rhythm. And then they took it and drove it, ate the clock up, missed
a field goal.
Then we drove there for a while and just couldn’t get it going. Couldn’t get the running game going. We
got in the drop-back game, which was tough. They were able to run the football. That was the other
thing. They were able to continue to run the football and move the clock. It’s a shame. We had a chance
to be right there and just didn’t get it done.
Q. Coach, Devon [Achane] had such a big first half with over 100 yards carrying and then that
third quarter only had the ball, I believe, three times on the carries. So what was Florida showing
you that caused you —
COACH FISHER: We just couldn’t get it. They weren’t showing. They just got the blocks. They stymied
us two or three times. Even on the RPOs that we threw, they put the extra guy in the box and we just
didn’t get them blocked. I mean, it was early.
And we had a one-yard gain. I think the first three carries were a one, a two, and a one. And we were
getting behind the chains on third down and drives. And they were scoring. They were scoring and got
the momentum. We tried to keep driving it. We had RPOs to keep giving it to them, and we just couldn’t
get them moved in what we were trying to do. And inside they were winning some battles.
Q. Was [Devon] Achane at 100% today?
COACH FISHER: He didn’t feel as good during the week and had some things go with him, but he’s
going to go play and play his tail off.
Q. Was there ever any consideration of calling time-out there after the turnover on downs when
they had the ball deep?
COACH FISHER: There was. But we said we had to come back twice. When they got down there the
first time, we could have but we just didn’t. We didn’t right there. Could have done it.
Q. Hey, Jimbo. How do you guys stop the bleeding because there’s so much football left to play.
It’s tough.
COACH FISHER: There is. And they are, And our kids see it. We’ll play hard and we’ll practice hard.
We’ve been doing that. And like I say, play these last three games. Got to get on the road against a
very good Auburn — tough Auburn play.
Auburn is a tough place to play. Come back to UMass and LSU, get two home games and play for
these seniors and play our tails off. And the character of these guys, they’ll play. I know that. And we’ve
just got to play. We’ve got to help them do a better job with them.
Q. Jimbo, do you all discourage your quarterbacks from running?
COACH FISHER: No.
Q. Because there was a couple of opportunities, it would seem like.
COACH FISHER: I will have to look at it and see. I’ll look at it and see. I can’t tell from the field
sometimes what he had. That’s something he usually does, and we don’t ever — we don’t want him to
get big hits, but we don’t discourage him from running, no.
Q. Jimbo, this is another game that the defense has allowed over 200 yards rushing. Do you
think of just losing a guy like Mike Elko and what he was able to bring to that front seven that
maybe benefit has —
COACH FISHER: Well, we’ve still got some of the same schemes there and we’ve got some young
guys playing the situation, and we’ve got to fit some things better, like I said. Schematically, it’s good
stuff, and we’ll look at it and see. But DJ [Durkin] does a good job. He knows what we’re doing. We
know how we’re doing it. And so, we’ll keep working on it.
Q. At this point in the season, is it more so about you guys closing out on the right note for
these seniors?
COACH FISHER: No doubt. You’ve got another game to play and you’ve got three games to play. Just
keep playing hard and doing your things. Like I say, you can show your character right now. Like I say,
these tough times build character and I think these guys will keep showing it. They’ve got character
and playing hard.
Q. Coach, I know the last couple of ball games, it’s been one play away. Today it wasn’t. How
much more disappointing is that?
COACH FISHER: Well, it was a couple of plays away, and right there, we got the points, we got the
sack. And then the other sack, we had a guy wide open at midfield on in the other one. We got hit on
that.
You get back in the drop-back game and it gets to be a tough situation. We were right there in the
one-play game, almost all the way through the third. We didn’t move it in the third quarter and we didn’t
play bad. We were still there.
Had points in that one and could have got back to 34 at least, 34-27 or 34-31 if we had gotten that third
and seven. Unfortunately, we got the blitz — not the blitz. They got us around the corner and caused
the fumble. We had to try to throw it away.
But it’s there. It’s not that far away, like I say. But they’re always there. You just got to keep finding
ways to make it.
Q. At what point, did you know Conner [Weigman] and guys like Kam [Dewberry] as well, but
particularly Conner, wouldn’t be able to go —
COACH FISHER: We didn’t know till late — we knew they got it early in the week. I mean, we had — we
didn’t know who was going to play all the way through as far as back and forth. Some guys came back
today, in the last day or so, depending on how it came. Some guys, it hit harder. Some guys, it hit
easier. You know what I’m saying? We didn’t know. We were trying to do piecemeal and do what we
had all week.
Q. Kind of based on that and based on Conner’s [Weigman] performance last week, how
disappointing was it that he wasn’t able?
COACH FISHER: Oh, it was very disappointing, because you want to keep the momentum and you
want to keep him playing. He wants to stay hot and keep things going. There’s no doubt.
I love how he played. There was nobody more disappointed than he was. He would say, Coach, I want
to play and then throw up. We had to keep him away, and it is what it is.
Like I say, I thought Haynes [King] came in and did a nice job. He’s been banged up, too, but I think
he did a nice job in the game. Made some really good plays. Gave us a chance in the game.
Q. Jimbo, we were trying to do the math before the game, just how many guys were out — injury,
illness. Where does this kind of stack up on just the roster depletion you’ve had this year?
COACH FISHER: It’s a bunch. You’re talking about — it’s one of the worst I’ve had as far as that goes.
[Fadil] Diggs will be out for the year. He’s had an injury. And then there’s a couple of other guys that.
Deuce Harmon will be out for the year, just had surgery.
A couple of other guys are banged and bruised. We’re trying to see. We’ll have to wait and see where
they’re at and what they’re doing. Besides the sickness and the guys coming up out, that’s neither here
nor there. You got to play with the guys you got and we have plenty good players and we had plenty of opportunities today to do what we needed to do.
Q. Just how difficult is it to manage and piece together —
COACH FISHER: It can be that way from a communications standpoint, just because finally we were
going to get the same line for a couple of games. And then Kam [Dewberry] gets it. He got it at the end
of the week. It was towards the end of the week when he got it, really started feeling bad.
But Mark [Nabou] came in and did some really nice things. Another good chance for a young freshman
to play. He’s going to be a really good player, too. It is what it is.
Q. Jimbo, how tough was it second half, you could have got the ball, could have extended the
game. You always talk about last possession, first half versus second half.
COACH FISHER: It was disappointing. We got that drive in the first half. Went right down and got it.
Come out, we had a boot play. And they changed the coverage and doubled it and slipped and could
have made it so it wasn’t there. Maybe could have gotten a couple on the scramble.
But felt good about the runs we had, come back, and got a yard. Then got a third and nine and they
got pressure. They could rush the pass. One thing they could do is rush, And they got some pressure
on us.
We had the third and longs. First half, we kept them more four and mediums to get the ball out quicker
and do some different things. And we missed a blitz on the second one that we didn’t pick up. It was
disappointing.
We felt good about the adjustments, felt good what we were doing. And we still feel like the things are
there. We just got to look and see why they weren’t, what we did do wrong exactly.
A couple of runs. There was a kick we didn’t get a down block on, a seal we’ve been running the first
half really well. Just got to look and see where it was.
Felt really good about it. Guys were in good place. What we were doing, thought we had a good plan
coming back out. Got to execute and coach it better.
Q. Could you feel the momentum shifting their way late in the third quarter?
COACH FISHER: They did because they started getting control of the line of scrimmage a little bit.
Being able to run the ball on offense and us not being able to do it. Putting your line in a tough situation
because then you get in the dropback game. I don’t care who it is, that’s hard to do.
Evan [Stewart] and Moose [Muhammad] caught some really nice balls, I thought.
42, Max [Wright] did a really nice job. Caught some really nice balls. Like I say, you want to get it to a
chain as much as you humanly can, but go from there.
Q. So Moose [Muhammad] and Evan [Stewart], as you just mentioned, were the only two wide
receivers to catch a pass today. Was that part of the game plan, or was that just something that
kind of went down?
COACH FISHER: No, just the way it happened. Went down by the coverages or where it went to. We
had balls called to other guys that could have went to other places.
Tight end caught a bunch, didn’t he? How many completes did he have? 23? 24? Could have been
more than that then. Who else caught balls then? Max [Wright] caught five.
ALAN CANNON: Devon [Achane], three.
COACH FISHER: Devon [Achane], use him. We always try to him in the pass game. We had balls
called to the other guys, just didn’t get there. Or reads took us backside, depending on how they played
coverage.
Q. Coach, I know you’re probably going to have to go back and look at it to get a true sense.
But how would you evaluate just your impressions of the offensive line, especially with
shuffling so many people once again?
COACH FISHER: I thought we did some real nice things, moved the football. We had 400 yards. We
had 300 in the first half, if I’m not mistaken, in the drives we had. Had good balance and runs and had
some guys nicked and knacked. But the line is getting better and better each week.
I don’t care who you are as an offensive line — and we’ve got to execute on offense or whether we
didn’t get the run or why, we get in those third-down situations, quarterbacks are getting hit a lot, that’s
a hard — I don’t care who it is, pure pass situations, you’ve got to get the ball down the field, that can
be very tough.
Q. When dealing with a mobile quarterback and some of the struggles y’all have had, do you
feel like it’s more schematic or more just in the players not —
COACH FISHER: Well, I have to look and see what it was this week. Last week we had a couple of
guys that just got out of position or got their eyes in bad places and what we were trying to do. We’ll
look here and see.
Some of it was on the run game, though. They had some of the run game, the quarterback run game,
I believe, come out early on in the first half some.
Scrambles, one big scramble I know that we had him and we lost contain — there’s one I think he
scrambled and then he flipped the ball. We had that big stop right there, and he was able to make that.
And we got out of the pocket. Then the guy had to come off the guy to make the tackle, and he got the
flip play. I thought it was a big play in the game, big momentum play in the game going down there.
We’ll look and see. I can’t answer that right now, but we’ve got to be disciplined in what we’re doing
and how we do.
Q. And Yulkeith [Brown] and Chase Lane, are those injuries or sickness?
COACH FISHER: Yulkeith is out for a while. He won’t be with us for a while, will be unavailable. But
Chase is an injury. He was banged. You saw he didn’t come back in the second half of that game. I
think Adarious [Jones] was out. LT [Overton] was out.
ALAN CANNON: Jardin Gilbert.
COACH FISHER: Jardin Gilbert was out.
Q. And Yulkeith [Brown] is injury?
COACH FISHER: No. No, Yulkeith is not injury. But the others are. The others are all injury. And
hopefully we’ll get them back. I mean, it was just a string of that, plus, and then the flu hit and lost some
other guys. So it didn’t matter. We still had a chance.
QUESTIONS FOR LAYDEN ROBINSON AND EDGERRIN COOPER
Q. From a player’s perspective, what was this week like? How many people were in and out of
practice with sickness and how did you all know who was going to be able to play?
LAYDEN ROBINSON: This week I feel like practice was pretty good. We had up energy. We was
practicing the tempo really well. Some people we didn’t find out wasn’t going to play until literally the
end of probably like the Thursday before Friday. So that’s how that came along.
But this week was really good in practice. I felt the energy. We had very competitive days against our
defense. Because we start going against our defense at the beginning of practice now so we can get
that fast tempo going. So I feel like that was positive for us.
Q. Layden, with two different style of quarterbacks in Haynes [King] and Conner [Weigman],
how difficult is it for you to go through the process of knowing what they’re going to be doing
on the offense, especially if you don’t know if one is going to be playing before the game?
LAYDEN ROBINSON: You know, we really don’t — as an offensive line, you really don’t pay attention
to the style of quarterback you have. The thing about it is, you have to block for your quarterback.
That’s the thing. That’s your job. You have to block for the quarterback. You have to protect the
quarterback so that he can get his job done.
Q. Layden, in terms of the success you all had as an offense in the first half versus the struggles
in the second half, was it something that Florida did differently defensively? Or was it as simple
as getting behind the sticks?
LAYDEN ROBINSON: I believe both. I believe they came out of the half with something different and
that we was just shooting ourself in the foot at so called making MAs, making mistakes, not bumping
off some stuff in the run game. We had some plays that really could have hit for big yardage, but we
just didn’t execute the blocks or something happened, you know.
Q. Layden, I think I asked you last week about the disappointment. I’m sure it just continues to
build, but can you talk about just how you guys are able to keep your chins up, even though
things aren’t going your way right now?
LAYDEN ROBINSON: You keep your chins up by just the pride of yourself, you know? As a person,
a face, of battles that you’re going through. You know you’re going through tough times right now. You
never fold during tough times because that means you’re a week-minded person. And I feel like this
team is not a weak-minded team at all. That’s why we keep fighting every single time we face adversity.
I feel like that’s the reason why we keep our heads up.
You just have to take stuff like this under the chin. Even though it’s like a repetitive thing that’s
happening, we just have to bear down and figure out what’s wrong. That’s the main thing. To a solution,
you got to find — for a problem, you’ve got to find a solution.
Q. Layden, Devon [Achane] only had five rushing touches in the entire second half. Did you
notice anything different that they were doing up front? Were they running different stunts?
Were they utilizing more so of an interior block? What was the main difference of the defensive
line?
LAYDEN ROBINSON: I could say the stunts in the second half, they came more. You know, they
started figuring out what stunts will work against us and how to get us off levels, especially on the
offensive line. They just brought more stunts the second half.
Q. And then not for anything because we’ve got a team bonding, but for the seniors that are
going to go out on this year, how important is it for you guys to close out on the right note,
regardless of bowl eligibility or whatnot?
LAYDEN ROBINSON: Because you don’t want to finish bad. You always want to finish strong, no
matter what spots you’re in. You want to have a strong finish and hopefully that leads into greater
things for this team and this university.
Q. Layden, kind of piggyback off of what he said, does it surprise you that there’s not more just
straight-up design runs for Devon [Achane] in the second half with what he was able to do in
the first half?
LAYDEN ROBINSON: It doesn’t surprise me. We just do what our coaches say. We’re not too worried
about the play calls. Our job is to do what our coaches want to do and what they feel like will be bestly
executed against the team we’re playing.
Q. And then, was Devon [Achane] one of those guys that was a little bit sick through the week?
How gutty of an effort was it for him to go out and do what he did?
LAYDEN ROBINSON: I believe so, he was one of the guys that was sick this week, but he’s a battler,
he’s a guy that takes on the responsibility and he just balled. That’s what he does.
It’s in his DNA, and he’s a great asset for this team.
Q. Layden, you guys had a chance coming out of the locker room to extend your lead and kind
of really put your foot on the gas kind of like they did later in that frame. So how disappointing
was it that you weren’t able to do that, and then also you weren’t able to kind of stem their
momentum when they kind of got it going?
LAYDEN ROBINSON: You know, it’s always hard stopping momentum, but you have to make sure
that you do your job, not anything special, just do your job and do your part, your individual assignment
to make sure that you can stop the momentum. And coming out the halftime, you know, that was hard
because we had a heck of a first half moving the ball, getting down the field, and just making big plays.
In the second half, we just didn’t execute how we executed in the first half. We were focused on having
a fast start. Now we have to focus on maintaining that fast start going into the second half.
Q. Layden, I know you guys have dealt with a lot of injuries this year, but then this week to have
the illnesses that you had, did you just kind of go, man, we cannot catch a break?
LAYDEN ROBINSON: You know, stuff like that gets rough because you’re just facing a lot of adversity.
But you have to pull through that adversity and you have to come through that adversity at the end of
the day.
Q. Layden, it feels like on a five-game losing streak, it’s easy to just lay down your head and
call it quits, but you continue to be positive with your message and you continue to have this
optimism for this team. Do you think that as a leader and someone who’s been a starter for
multiple years, it’s your duty to make sure that you’re keeping this positive momentum for the
locker room?
LAYDEN ROBINSON: Oh, of course, but that’s everybody’s duty to make sure we keep this locker
room positive and keep this team positive. If one is down, we have to pick that person up and we have
to let them know, hey, we just got to keep grinding and keep our foot on the pedal and just keep going.
That’s the thing about this team that a lot of people probably don’t see under wraps. We make sure
that we go after each other every day in practice. We make sure we’re making each other better.
Our job is to make our teammates better, backups and all that. Just like today, you seen we had to use
our backups most of the time because a lot of our key players was done. But that’s still no excuse at
the end of the day. We have to make sure that they’re ready to take on their job.
Q. Edgerrin, in a week when a lot of guys were forced to miss — injuries, sickness — you actually
got to come back. So how nice was it just for you to be back on the field this week?
EDGERRIN COOPER: Oh, it was very nice to finally get back in the groove. Just walking from the
sideline and seeing your brothers fight for every play. It just kills you knowing that you want to be out
there to help him. It just feels good to be back.
Q. Edgerrin, how much did it feel like that first quarter kind of when they were going back and
forth, maybe took a toll as the game went along, just especially once they got it going in the
second half as well?
EDGERRIN COOPER: Oh, it took a big toll. We try to get adjustments right during the game, try to get
a stop. We didn’t like that situation, us going back and forth. I feel like if we could have gotten a few
stops or just one or two more stops, we could have had success during this game. But just the
circumstances we had to go through and we had to adjust to.
Q. Edgerrin, the defense has been pretty young this season just overall and just with the
number of injuries y’all have had, what have been some of the growing pains y’all have had to
go through been like and having to replace so many guys?
EDGERRIN COOPER: I mean, it’s tough but that’s what they’re here for. We look at it as the next
person up, try to put that person the best perspective they could be. You know, try to help them get out
with us and be able to roll with us.
Q. Edgerrin, what did you notice about Anthony Richardson and his ability to maneuver outside
of the pocket?
EDGERRIN COOPER: He’s a great player. We tried to keep him contained as much as possible. He’s
a very impactful player when he got out of the pocket. But stuff like that just happens.
Q. And injuries and illness aside, having a guy like Antonio Johnson miss this game who does
a great job of spying the quarterbacks, especially mobile quarterbacks, do you think that hurt
a younger player that maybe isn’t used to playing that type of role?
EDGERRIN COOPER: Oh, yeah, a situation like that, having a veteran there, could have certain plays
where certain plays doesn’t happen, you know? But we just have to be out there whoever we out there
with and just do our jobs.
Q. Tackling hasn’t necessarily been a problem for y’all this season, but especially the last two
games and this game, what changed that the tackles just weren’t there and they were able to
break some?
EDGERRIN COOPER: It came down to — we try to harp on that every day, every practice. That was
our main thing was tackling and make sure we wrap up, and just certain situations like that happened
today. And we just wasn’t successful at it.
Q. Edgerrin, just out of curiosity, back-to-back games given up over 200 rushing yards. Do you
feel like it’s just the youthfulness of the defense not being able to make the plays? What’s been
the difference between this year and last year?
EDGERRIN COOPER: Yeah, certain situations where the younger guys are not able to be able to
focus on what defense we’re running and just not out there used to the game. Once we get out there,
they notice how fast everything goes and just have to make the adjustments.
Q. Edgerrin, can you just talk about how disappointing and frustrating it is? I mean, I know you
guys practice hard and you play hard, but you’re just not getting the results. Just how that’s
not factoring into the scoreboard at the end of the day, which is what matters.
EDGERRIN COOPER: Yeah. We have the mentality on the team like no matter what — it hurts us bad
every game, you know? We just feel like we’re going to pop out and end up somewhere finally starting
to get successful. Not
